Hardrock Mining Threatens Existing Uses

Most people who live, work and recreate in the Tangle Lakes Country largely do so because of its beauty, abundant wildlife, fish and waterfowl resources and wild nature. But this place of unique natural attributes is threatened by the encroachment of industrial development. People are beginning to realize that this place as they now know it may not exist for their children to enjoy.

The most disturbing and imminent threat is hardrock (lode) mining. Small-scale placer mining has gone on beyond the hills north of the Tangles for decades. More recently, however, interest has grown in lode nickel, copper and platinum. Preliminary surveys conducted by state and federal agencies identified two east-west mineralized belts: one to the north in the vicinity of placer deposits in Broxson Gulch and Rainy Creek, the other running through the Tangles, Landmark Gap and 14-Mile Lake.

Based on these results and the long-term presence of placer mining on local creeks, mining companies began sniffing around the Denali Country. Nothing of potential interest occurred until the late 1990s – when Nevada Star Resources (then M.A.N. Resources) began staking large blocks of land. Although still owned by the federal government at the time, the State of Alaska, at the urging of the company, moved to take ownership of the lands north of the Denali Highway – from Mile 12 to Mile 27. Thus, by 2003, the so-called “Denali Block," some 314 square miles in area, was transferred to the State of Alaska as part of its land entitlement under the Alaska Statehood Act.

The Players: Nevada Star and Anglo American
Nevada Star Resources, a junior Canadian exploration company, presently controls approximately 269 square miles of mining claims. These claims surround the Tangle Lakes which are in the federal Wild and Scenic River corridor, and include Landmark Gap, the Amphitheatre Mountains, and 14-Mile Lake. There is also a large block of claims just south of the Eureka Glacier, extending to the east to the ridges and creeks around Broxson Gulch, including Rainy and Ann Creeks. In addition, the company controls a block of claims on the northeastern side of Rainbow Mountain, above the Canwell Glacier, and another block of claims adjacent to the Richardson Highway near Fielding Lake. Generally, the MAN Project focuses on a suspected east-west trend of nickel, platinum and copper mineralization.

Late in the winter of 2004, Anglo American, a global mining company with interests in gold, base metals, coal and platinum, entered the picture. Anglo signed an agreement with Nevada Star that over five years, the company would spend up to $12 million on exploration on the Tangle Lake claims and claims near Fish Lake, north of the Amphitheatre Mountains.

Type of Exploration and Targeted Minerals
Based on surface sampling and geophysical data, Nevada Star believes there is potential for significant deposits of platinum, palladium and other related platinum group elements, as well as nickel and copper. Anglo’s Tangle Lakes claims are thought to contain the greatest potential for a nickel-copper-platinum massive sulfide deposit. Nevada Star is conducting conventional hardrock mineral exploration on its claims in the Rainbow Mountain and Broxson Gulch areas. This consists of drilling and trenching. In road-accessible areas, such as Rainbow Mountain, access roads have been constructed. In other places, Nevada Star uses helicopters to sling in drilling equipment and transport personnel.